4 Steps: Learn From A Mistake

In some occupations, the ability to learn from a mistake is a privilege. Take pilots, for example: how many mistakes can they make on the job before one costs them their lives? It’s no surprise, then, to learn that many pilots take the time each month to read up on airplane accidents for one simple reason: to find out what another pilot did wrong so that they can learn from that mistake.

In professional situations, few of us are faced with those stakes, but it’s a reasonable standard for those of us who would prefer not to repeatedly learn things the hard way. This is where the following four steps will help you learn from a mistake.

1- Own your mistake

Few things work against us more than a defensive attitude when we try to learn from a mistake. It’s natural to want to defend ourselves in the wake of some mistake — after all, screwing up is embarrassing, even humiliating. But where’s the point in defending an error? What do you gain by protecting what you did wrong in the face of criticism? In the end, you end up endorsing it, selling it to others, when you should simply be owning it.

Instead of trying to affix the blame to external sources (the actions of others, nature, bad timing) and claiming they deserve part of the blame, accept the blame as your own. Put bluntly, it is next to impossible to learn from a mistake if you can’t even admit that you made it, that you are responsible for it. If you miss a deadline, own up to it — don’t blame traffic or coworkers. If you miscalculate some figures, accept that it was your doing.

2- Change your mindset

According to author and Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck, the key to achievement and success is one’s perspective on the notion of ability: Do you think that ability is inherent (meaning either you have it or you don’t), or do you think that ability is something that can be developed? The stance you take represents a part of your personality; assuming the former is true is adopting a fixed mindset, one that discourages problem-solving, while the latter represents a growth mindset, and encourages problem-solving.

Thus the next step in learning from a mistake is making certain that you’re functioning from a growth mindset. Since people with a fixed mindset tend to focus on performance, on wanting to appear in control, they have the tendency not to learn from a mistake. You should regard a mistake as a motivation for improvement, not as a slight on your ego and a magnification of some personal shortcoming.